Florida International University

Date: Feb 16 2012
Major: Computer Science (This Major's Salary over time)
I feel obligated to post a good review here because I spent the four years at FIU and graduated from FIU. I can give a much better perspective of what to expect, specially for those going into technical majors (engineering, CS, etc), which was what I was into.

First, let's hear the good (you will see why I chose to rate "negative" when I talk about it later). In general, the campus (MD campus, the main one) looks very good and pretty. In fact, if you come to see it when it is empty, you will leave with the impression that FIU is a beautiful place to be at. The campus looks good. I had classes in most of the buildings and the classrooms that looked the best (i.e. comfortable seats and tables, space, professional-looking) were at the Business faculty. Overall, classrooms were fine. The only ones that were lacking a little were at the Engineering/CS building because some were small (like high school classrooms pretty much) and simply not as good as the ones at the Business faculty. The only places I could say looked bad were a couple of the parking buildings, but that was not a big deal.

Another good thing about FIU is that the amount of books and information available through the library is excellent. The library's online databases of articles will surely cover whatever you seek for research, if not the books available at the library should be enough.

Also, FIU's tuition costs are lower than in other 4-yr universities. Many complain about getting ripped-off, but FIU is still less expensive than other universities for in-state students seeking a good 4-yr degree. Money is definitely not everything, but it is a good thing to graduate without tuition loans to pay, so this is a positive aspect for in-state students like me. However, it is a big negative for out-of-state students that have to pay much more. Be aware of that.

Those were the things that I consider undeniable positives about FIU. Let's continue with the ones that are hit or miss (good for some, bad for others) and then with what I considered bad.

The professors will depend on your classes and major. Some professors are magnificient educators and people. Others are terrible at teaching and unhelpful as well. I had my share of both. With the bad ones, you will need to teach yourself, so buy the textbooks. This will be good or bad depending on what professors you take and your attitude towards classes.

FIU is what we call a commuter school because most of the students drive to campus, rather than living on campus. This was never a problem for me because I was one of those commuters too. However, for those who are looking for a university where everyone lives there and comes from other places, let me tell you something: FIU is not it.

The third thing I wouldn't call bad (but others would) is that the study load in the technical majors can be quite heavy. Get ready to be busy studying if you want to do well (which you should). Anyone that comes to FIU with a "this is a party" mentality is going to hit a wall, specially in the technical majors. I was neutral on this because I was a good student and I enjoy learning, but at the same time not having time to do other things besides taking care of classes definitely takes its toll sometimes. I managed to deal with it though.

Another hit-or-miss is the customer service sites at FIU (financial aid office, registration office, etc). I see people complaining about this and I understand, but this is just as hit or miss as the professors. This depends on the employee really not on FIU. I had both types of experiences throughout the 4 years: counselors that were beyond helpful and others that even guided me wrong!! What I recommend for this is simply getting 2 opinions from 2 different people if possible. If it is class-related I would go directly to the counselors for the major, not to the general ones at PC.

Now, let's see the ones that were negatives for me.

First, the FIU library is not large enough for all the students that may need to use it. Yes, it has 7 floors that students can use with lots of seats, but FIU has more than 30,000 students. Sometimes, you may go there to sit somewhere and study and you will find nearly everywhere it is full of (taken) seats. So, I hope you can concentrate reading and studying with people on both sides because that will be the case often (either that or sit on the floor, but that doesn't work to read for 3 hours). I had to do it many times, but I am the kind of person that concentrates better all by myself. That was rarely possible when I studied at FIU. The only exceptions were some weekends, but that was it. Also, for study sessions of hours, the chairs at the library were not that comfortable either.

Second is the food variety, specially for anyone who does live there (I didn't). The food variety was not bad to start, but after the first year I realized they were very lacking in food variety, specially in the FIU buffet at the Graham Center. I did not live on campus, so this was not too problematic, but I had lunch there very often. If I was a little tired of it after just having lunch there for 3 semesters, I imagine anyone living at FIU would have to start eating outside after the first year. They definitely could improve the variety at the FIU buffet. Just to give you an idea, any China buffet has at least 3 or even 4 times more food variety than FIU's buffet. The FIU buffet is also $2 more expensive than the China buffets. That's not a good thing when your variety is very limited.

Next comes one that only intellectuals like me will notice and dislike. This probably won't bother anyone else. Even though this is college, the majority of the FIU students (even more so during the freshman year) do not come to FIU with an "I want to learn, do great, and meet other smart people" mentality, but rather with an "I want to take the classes, pass them, get my degree and party along the way" mentality. There are some interesting intellectuals at FIU (I used to be one), but the love for learning and thought-provoking things that genuinely smart people tend to feel is definitely not a common view there at all (neither is it in the surrounding city). Also, please do not join a FIG. My FIG classes of my very first semester felt like an extension of high school and I ended up making more friends in the single non-FIG class I had. Clearly, I do not recommend FIGs. Different classes with different people is far better than a FIG with the same 30 people for every class, specially in a university with +30,000 students. Trust me, I don't have the experience for nothing.

Now (finally) comes what I hated about FIU and what (single-handedly) made me rate it as negative, despite the fact I even graduated from there: the majority of the student body is very unfriendly. People don't say good morning, hi, hello, or anything at FIU. Some may be shy, but most simply are not friendly. You would be lucky if anyone smiles at you. People outside of your classes do not seem interested in actually making new friends there. I am not shy, so I went ahead and talked to others that seemed smart and tried to make friends. I believe that is the only reason why I did manage to make some like-minded friends, but during most of the time, I found it difficult to make new friends and meet new people at FIU because the majority simply were not interested in meeting others. Quite honestly, if it is this way for those that live there I wouldn't have lasted even one year at FIU. However, I never lived there, so it makes sense that I managed to go through it. So, newsflash for new students: if you are shy, you are a little screwed at FIU because shy + unfriendly people is a good recipe to stay friendless. Once again, this aspect is why I rate FIU as negative: the people's attitude, not the place itself. I wasn't like that, but I was in a very small minority.

Now my final advice: if you live outside of Florida I do not recommend coming to FIU, even more so if you are the kind of person who is smart and who comes to college thinking that this is learning heaven… it is not, come down from that cloud. There aren't tons of smart and responsible people at FIU as you would expect. There is a little bit of everything just as in high school. If you live in Florida and close to FIU or plan to go to FIU, don't be discouraged by my review, but take it into account. My experience was not for nothing. I don't regret going to FIU because I had some excellent professors that I will never forget and I graduated without any debt at all (I wouldn't have been able to do it at UM), but making friends proved challenging, and making good friends even more challenging. I managed to do it, but mind you, I am not the shy type. Overall, it was a neutral experience. I am glad I have my degree now with zero debts, but the attitude of FIU's student body was not my cup of tea. Thankfully, it didn't influence me, I am still as friendly as before.